Author Dr. Jain: Doctors, Patients Caught Between ACA, Insurers

Reports of impending insurance-premium hikes under the Affordable Care Act are no surprise to doctors who have watched their own incomes shrink at the same time their patients' costs for healthcare coverage rise, a doctor told Newsmax TV on Tuesday.

"I really feel bad for the patients, because it's like you buy something and all of a sudden, a few months later, find out the price is going to go up," physician Sanjay Jain, author of "Optimal Living 360," told "MidPoint" host Ed Berliner. "It feels like a bait-and-switch."

Story continues below video.

Note:Watch Newsmax TV now on DIRECTV Ch. 349 and DISH Ch. 223
Get Newsmax TV on your cable system – Click Here Now

Florida insurance regulators announced Monday that healthcare premiums for that state's residents could rise by an average of 13.2 percent in 2015, the Miami Herald reported.

The squeeze on patients coincides with a financial downturn for medical professionals that may accelerate under Obamacare and tight-fisted insurers, said Jain.

"The heyday of medicine for doctors is long gone," he said, adding, "It's really been trending down to the point where a lot of doctors, especially primary-care doctors, are really getting hit hard."

He cited X-ray readings as one example: years ago, a physician could expect an insurance reimbursement of $40-$50 for each X-ray read.

Today, he said, "I might be lucky to get $7 dollars out of that," even though the cost of learning to read and interpret X-rays — "four years of medical school, five to six years of residency and then training beyond that," he said — has not fallen.

Reports of impending insurance-premium hikes under the Affordable Care Act are no surprise to doctors who have watched their own incomes shrink at the same time their patients' costs for healthcare coverage rise, a doctor told Newsmax TV on Tuesday.